Crane



Dec. 2, 1952 A. C. HOYLE ET A1.

dRANE 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. l5. 1949 INVENTORS Dec. 2, 1952 A, C, HQYLE ET AL 2,620,075

CRANE Filed Jan. 13, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 i I LLJ 59 55 4Q INVENTORS FME E:ALBERT C. Hom: BY ROGER L. BEVARD ATTORNEY Dec. 2, 1952 A. c. HOYLE ET A1.

CRANE Filed Jan. 15, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 D .m2 mmm. E VHB W. C L W mm E B LO .AR V.. B

ATToRNaY Patented Dec. 2, 1952 CRANE Albert C. Hoyle and Roger L. Bevard, IronMountain, Mich., assignors to Lake Shore Engineering Company, Iron Mountain, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application January 13, 1949, Serial No. 70,674 l 9 claims. (01.-212-29) This invention relates to 'apparatus facilitating and expediting load handling by cranes.

The tendency of a crane-carried load to swing as the crane moves, horizontally, especially during acceleration' and deceleration, often slows down the entire operation. This is especially true in modern ships having crane facilities for loading through a portin the side of the ship where a swinging load may strike the edges of the port. Since the size of the port is limited and large loads are both'desirable and necessary, such loading operations have heretofore been kept at a speed less than maximum by reason of the dangers involved if the load should swing into the edges of the port.

While present cargo and material handling methods employing palletized loads which may be transported by lift trucks are rapid, time is lost in `securing the pallet to the old type crane sling. It is desirable, therefore. to have apparatus for handling'palletized loads rapidly in crane operations. Such apparatus must, in addition, be usable with the anti-swinging apparatus to obtain the optimum operation.

The principal object of this invention is to provide lanti-swinging apparatus for a crane.

Another object is to provide a substantial rigid connection between a crane and its load.

Another object is to provide means for preventing a load from swinging as it is moved horizontallyby a crane.

`A` further object is to prevent movement of a blockwith respect to its crane as the crane moves.

Still a further object for cranes. m m j g Another object is to provide simple means Iacilitating handling of palletized loads by cranes.

Still another object is to vprovide means for readilyattaching pallets to a crane sling.

Other objectsand advantages will lbe pointed out in. vor be apparent from. the specication and claims, as will obvious modifications of the single embodiment in the drawings. in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the end of a crane boom. block vand sling assembly;

Fig. 2 isV a side elevation showing how` the block lits in the boom'end; i

Fig. 3 is an end. elevation of a pair ofl crane booms, blocks and slings showing the relationship of such a rig with respect to a port;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of Fig. 24`with parts insectiom Fig. 5 is a section view oi: Fig. 2 on line 5 5; and

is to provide a rigid sling Figg is a planview of the pallet carrier frame. The inventionmis ,shown asjbeing applied to a crane havinga boom which may be racked back and forth to move the load horizontally and having suitable hoisting mechanism for raising and lowering the load `with respect to the boom. It will be apparent,r however, that this apparatus may be readilyapplied together cranes such as the trolley type. m j

The jaws I0, II 'on the end of crane boom I2 are adapted to restrainthesides or skirt portion of block I3 when it is raised up between the jaws by means of' cable reeved on the block pulley I5and pulleys IB.' I1 rotatably mounted on axles IiiI I9 supported between the two parallel jaw-forming plates 20, 2 I. The parallel plates 20, 2l are suitably outwardly flanged to allow for passage of cable I4`therebetween. and the outboard ends of plates 20, 2I are joined by plate 22 `to maintain theparallel relationship.

The lower ends of jaws I0, I I are provided with rollers 23 rotatably mounted on pins 24 supported in brackets '25 welded or otherwise secured to the parallel jaw plates 20, 2l. Flat plates 26 are welded between the vertical edges of jaw plates 20, 2| on the inside of the jaws lll), Il to provide `ilat interior surfaces to conne and restrain the blockl in the jaws; It is to be noted that rollers 23 on the lower endsof jaws I0, II correct misalignment of the block I3 with respect to the jaws as aresult of cable twist as the block enters the jaws. 'The rollers additionally serve to prevent chafing the cable on any of the iixecl parts.

Thus when block I3-is raised up into the jaws on the crane boom, it is aligned with and confined by the -jaws which restrain the vertical sides 2l of the block to preventmovement of the blockras the boom'is racked. The upward movement of the block" into the jaws is limited by lugs 28, projectingfrom the upper 'curved edge of sides 29 of the block, when the lugs strike rubber bumpers 30 mountedon the vunderside of the gitvrardly projecting flanges -3I on jaw plates A generally triangularcargo sling 32 is adapted to be connected between the depending parallel sides 29 of block I3 by means'of pins 33 projecting through aligned holes in the parallel sides 29 and in mounting plate 34.011 sling 32. One end of the pin is provided with a handle 35 which normally rests (as seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 4) in bracket 36 on the sidecfblock I3.` `When handle 35 is moved to the dottedline position shown in Figs. 2 and 4, pin 33 may be withdrawn to disengage the sling. It will be apparent that the use of two pins 33, 33 in joining sling 32 to the block I3 prevents any movement between the sling and the block.

The lower corners of sling 32 are provided with two spaced parallel brackets 40 between which a safety type cargo hook 4I is pivoted to hook onto the type pallet, shown in the lower left-hand corner of Fig. 1, having eyelets mounted thereon for this purpose. The spacing of hooks 4| on sling 32 is, of course, standardized in light of the distance between the eyes on such pallets. Since sling 32 is rigidly connected to block I3 which is restrained by jaws l0, Il from movement with respect to the boom as the boom is racked, this type pallet may be moved horizontally at high speed Without swinging. However, there is still a considerable time loss handling the pallet due to the use of hooks, each of which must be separately handled.

To reduce this handling time a pallet carrier 45 may be utilized with this sling to facilitate handling of the conventional type pallet 45 which has a plurality of parallel upper and lower planks 41 secured to and spaced by cross ties 48. Carrier or frame 45 is made up in square or rectangular form (usually rectangular) with sides of channels 49 welded together. A mounting bracket 50 is welded on the inside face adjacent the corners on two opposite sides. Brace 5I, perpendicular to bracket 50, is welded to the top of channel 49 and -to bracket 50 and is slotted at 52, and it serves' as one leg of handle 53 which is provided for ease of manually transporting the frame. The spaced'parallel sling brackets l0 are adapted to t on either side of bracket 55 on frame 45 to permit pin 54 to be inserted through aligned holes in brackets 4I) and 5U. Pin handle 55 is then dropped into slot 52 'to retain thepin 54 in place.

In this manner one sling 32 may beV rigidly connected to one side of pallet frame 45.l While a sling may readily be designed to be connected to all four mounting brackets 50 on carrier frame 45, the present rig' is preferred for use in cargo handling by cranes installed in ships where it is advantageous to utilize a'crane having two booms as illustrated in Fig. 3. Thus in Fig. 3 the booms are positioned in the upper corner of port 56 in the side of the ship, and since the hoisting mechanism is operated simultaneously, the two slings 32 permit the -space between the booms to be utilized forV cargo.

The pallet carrier frame 45 permits rapid handling of palletized loads'. Thus the ends of 'rectangular bars 51, supported on the depending legs 58 of angular brackets 59 resting o-n the upper edges of opposite sides of the frame, 'may freely slide between the upper and lower planks 4l of pallet 46 when the Vframe 45 is resting on the ground. Brackets 59ar`e of sucient 'width to prevent the barsv from becoming jammed or cocked in the frame. Handles 60 on'bar brackets 59 facilitate sliding the bars, and depending hook 6I projects under 'the channel leg to prevent accidental removal of the bars from the frame. IThus pallet 46 may be readily released from frame 45 when the frame is resting on the ground by merely sliding bars 5l to the dotted line position (Fig. 6). ATo slide' bars 5l in this manner requires but aL fraction of the time required to utilize safety hooks as described above.

As pointed out above, rapid cargo handling is highly important-toy economical operation, particularly in the shipping industry 'for which this 4 apparatus is specifically designed, but it will be appreciated that the invention permits of use in other environments. The size of the pallet carrier frame 45 is governed, in this instance, by the size of the port and the hatches through which loading operations are carried on. The triangular sling 32 is adapted to be rigidly connected to the frame and the block in such manner that it may be readily disconnected for stowing when the ship is at sea. Similarly, the block I3 may be raised into the jaws I0, I I and stowed or locked in that position by means of pin 62 mounted injaw l0 and adapted to project into hole 63 in side 21 of block I3. A key 64 on pin 62 abuts lug 65 to retain pin 62 in the locking position and may be disengaged therefrom by rotating pin handle 66 to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 4 to permit the pin to be withdrawn from the block.

Thus the apparatus is adapted to be stowed rapidly on board ship in addition to permitting much greater speed in handling cargo.` As pointed out above, this invention is Vreadily adapted to the trolley type crane where the jaw members would be carried by the trolley. Other modications and changes vwill occur to those skilled in the art, and for that reason this invention is limited only by 'the scope of the claims.

Weclaim:

1. A crane mechanism,V comprising, in combination, spaced apart horizontally movable means, jaws on each of said movable imeans, a pair of blocks, hoisting meansV including cable means reeving eachV block to oneof said'movable means for simultaneous hoisting, 'or loweringV of 'said blocks, said jaws being adapted to receive said blocks when raised to the movable means to.

prevent horizontal movement of the blocks With respect to the movable means, and arigid ,cargo sling depending from each of the' blocksand adapted tocarry'cargol therebetween.

2. A crane mechanism, comprising, in combination, spaced aparthorizontally movable means, jaws on` each of said movablemeans, a pair of blocks, hoisting means., includingfcable means reeving each block to one .of said-movable means for simultaneousV hoisting for lowering of said blocks, said jaws being Yadapted. to receive said blocks when raised to the movable means to prevent horizontal movement ofthe blocks with respect to the movable means, a rigid cargo sling depending from each of saidblocks, and rigid means connecting said slings and adaptedto support cargo thereon.

3. An anti-swinging device for a crane including horizontally movable means, comprising, a

block, hoisting means including a cable reeved on the blockvfor raising 'the block, jaw `means on said movable means adapted to 'receive said block when raised by said hoistingfm'eans to lprevent horizontal movement of the block, and a, rigid sling connected to 'said block and adapted to receive a load. 'Y

4. Anti-swinging apparatus for a crane having horizontally movable means, comprising, a block, a rigid cargo sling'mea`n`s rigidly connecting said sling to said block, a hoisting cable reeved on the block and said movable means to raise and lower the block, and jaws on said movable means spaced to receive said blockandjto preventhorizontal movement of the block withrespect to the movable means. Y l

5. A crane comprising.. horizontally movable means, a block, a rigid cargo sling Yconnected 'to the block, hoisting means for raising the block to the movable means, and means for preventing other than vertical movement of said block when the block is adjacent the movable means.

6. Crane apparatus comprising, in combination, a pair of horizontally movable crane elements, means for moving said elements synchronously, jaw means depending from each of said elements, a pair of blocks, cable means for reeving each block to one of said elements, means for synchronously raising and lowering said blocks with respect to said elements, each of said blocks being adapted to be received in the jaws depending from the element with which the block is associated, and a rigid cargo sling depending from each of said blocks.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 including a rigid cargo supporting member interconnecting said slings.

8. The combination with the jaws depending from a horizontally movable crane member and adapted to receive a cargo block therein to prevent swaying movement of the block in the plane of the jaws of, stop members for limiting upward movement of the block into the jaws, and laterally projecting lugs at the top of said block adapted to strike said stop members and cooperate therewith in preventing the block from swaying transversely to said plane.

9. The combination with the jaws depending from a horizontally movable crane member and adapted to receive therein a cargo block reeved by meansof a cable to said member, of means for locking said block with respect to said jaws to permit relieving tension on the cable comprising, a pin slidably mounted in one of said jaws, and a, hole in said block adapted to cooperate and align with said pin when said block is in said jaws, said pin being adapted to project into said hole.

ALBERT C. HOYLE. ROGER L. BEVARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 183,104 Anderson Oct. 10, 1876 350,704 Stretch Oct. lf2, 1886 1,084,630 Hawthorn Jan. 20, 1914 2,218,706 Fitch et al Oct. 2.2, 1940 2,235,719 Matarese Mar. 18, 1941 2,355,235 Nickles Aug. 6, 1944 

